Thursday, March 15, 2012

A world beyond fantasy

While toys like Manglors, Crystar and The Other World probably likely bring back fond memories for many of you, for me, they kind of have a bittersweet appeal.

I was teetering on being a teenager at this point in time and when toys did the big "fantasy shift" in the early 80s, I felt kind of ....left behind. It was because I was getting too old for this stuff and I knew it, it's hard to describe the feeling but I think we've all had that moment.

The early 1980s saw a lot of unique and creative toy lines and it must have rocked to be a kid.

I know what you mean. I had just gotten all the TMNT Figures and was just getting into "Master of Puppets" by Metallica around '87. I looked at the figures one night and said to myself "what are you doing?" And that's when I knew the toy age was over. It's a poignant feeling that is a bit disappointing, but you realize you can't stop it.

I remember the last toy I bought to "play with." It was the GI Joe Serpentor figure with his air chariot. I think it was '85 or '86, and I was 13 or 14, and I felt a little bit odd buying it at the time, but it wasn't until I got home and my dad shook his head and said; "Don't you think you're getting a little old for that stuff now?" That really cinched it for me. That was the last toy I bought until I started collecting back in '93, and I bought a Mego Spidey at a mall show.

My Mom has been really great about saving toys she knew I loved. A while back she gave me another box she found in storage that had both the red guy & the four armed green guy from this set. Now seeing the whole thing for the first time since childhood I really wish she found all of it. So cool.